Hi there! Fundraising update ... we have raised almost $6,000! Yippee! Thank you so much for your support. We have one organization that we believe is going to match at least part of what we raise! This is really exciting!! It almost made me forget that I have to run 20 miles tomorrow! HAHA! :)

Running has been okay this week -- Tuesday's run was actually really wonderful. Brad's mom & dad came for a visit and his mom stayed until yesterday. It was a treat to be able to run with no pressure to finish by a certain time (so Brad can get to work!). I went to a Blues hockey game with my dad last night, so that was a nice time! Today, I'm trying not to think about the whole 20 miler tomorrow morning. My knee has been bothering me; I'm so afraid of injury right now. It's so close that I would hate to have something happen now!

Okay, I'll post after the run tomorrow. I'll try to have Brad take some pics & have my brother write something so that you know he exists! :) Bye for now, Brooke

Hi all! Well, this is our big week ... we run 40 miles total this week. Saturday, we'll run 20 -- that's the plan anyway! It's been a GREAT week so far & it keeps getting better! Last night, we went to an event on Scott AFB to try & meet Dan Hinote of the St. Louis Blues (previously of the Colorado Avs). Anyway, the reason was to see about possibly working something out with his organization Hinote's Heroes in order to gain media interest, etc. for Miles for Marrow. Plus, since he's new to St. Louis, it'd give his organization a kick-start here as well (we hope!). Please take a look at his website (link to the right); what he does is truly an inspiration. After meeting Dan last night, we felt like there's a real possibility we might be able to plan something -- he's a nice down-to-earth guy & we really felt blessed. He met Hunter in the Spring & Hunter was SO excited. He knew we would be jealous! I attached the picture last month, so click on August to see the pic of Hunter, Dan Hinote & Brad Larsen. If something works out that he can help us, it'd be great. No matter what, it was just cool to meet him! I didn't get my picture with him, but maybe that will happen later! :) I did get his autograph, so that has to count for something!

Okay, another bit of exciting news...we're almost to $5,000! For those of you that haven't sent in your cards, please don't feel like you're late. We just put a date on the letters as a guideline. If you're wanting to help Hunter, please send them, even after the 1st. The support has been amazing & we're very thankful. Hunter is such a special little boy & we thank you for all you've done for us & for him! Until next time, Brooke

Hi again! Anyone sick of hearing from the girl yet?! You may be out of luck! :) I just wanted to put it in writing ... I ran 18 miles on Saturday! Whew. I can hardly believe it -- my legs believe it! So far, I have managed to run 14 miles this week & it's only Tuesday. It's wild & crazy -- some days I'm motivated & look forward to it & other days ... well, let's not talk about those! Boy, my body is tired. Sometimes I feel like this whole experience is happening to someone else. I'm betting that the day of the marathon, I won't be living that dream! When I start feeling sorry for myself, I think about Hunter's daily struggles & it really does help. I think that any time you set your thoughts on something other than yourself (in any aspect of life) it ends up being a wonderful thing. If I weren't doing this for something other than myself, I think it would've been over a long time ago. I'm amazed that my body is strong enough to do this; I wanted to stop today when Brad came to give me a water, but I know that it's important for my mental part of this to keep up on the training. It's harder than you would think; with Brad's injury, I am running by myself & for those who know me well, I'm not a morning person! :) Brad has been told by his physical therapist to cease all running until October 12th. She thinks he'll still be able to run the marathon, IF he does what she tells him to do; we'll see! Prayers would be greatly appreciated for his knee. As for the fundraising, I'll give an official update later in the week, but we have to celebrate going over $3,000 today! Thanks to all of you for your support & prayers! Until next time, Brooke

Fundraising Update! Well, I just got the mail & wanted to update everyone on the total so far. As of right now, we have received 13 responses ... the exciting news is that we've already raised close to $1,000. Just $9,000 to go! :) Thank you so much for your support. It's so exciting to see all the support for Hunter. I have been working on getting some information published in local papers, so hopefully that will help too. I am also contacting some local sports figures in hopes that they will run with us for a day or maybe come to an activity to get the media to an event to get that type of exposure. From what we understand, Ben's employer may match what we raise, so we're definitely looking into that right now. I'll keep you updated on the total as we strive for our $10,000! :) Until next time, Brooke

Hi all -- Here are a few updates...

Brad is continuing to have knee issues with his ITBS. We're hoping he'll be able to ease into it again this week sometime -- we have 2 more big mile days & he really needs to be able to get them in at some point.

Sorry to those of you who have been waiting for an update...I was slow to get it out to you. I have attached Heather's updates from today. There is nothing definite yet, but it'll give you an idea of what has been going on since yesterday.

(From Heather on the CarePages)
DAY +111: WAITING IS NO FUN
We did in fact sleep last night. I think we were all so tired that there was no other choice. Hunter was feeling crummy after all of the meds and the transfusion so he wanted "a hot bath and bed." He is still not really eating and drinking much, so for the last few nights he has been back on IV fluids. His creatinine was already very high yesterday, so fluids are important to take the stress off of his kidneys. Branon and I have decided (maybe more for us than anything) that a CBC is warranted today. His legs are still covered, so it is hard to tell and I am not one who does well just waiting for bleeding to take him in. The appointment is at Dr. Cook's at 11:30. I am a little more rested today which has given my mind more energy to run...non-stop. Thankfully, Robin is just a few houses away and she walked down for coffee this am.....what an amazing blessing. David and Robin provide an amazing amount of support and encouragement to us. (They even planned a night out...including babysitters for all 7 kids....for the 4 of us. We got to go to a wonderful dinner together. It was a fun and special surprise....we went on Sat night). I am really contemplating calling to use a massage gift certificate that some friends gave me(Thank you Laurel and Paula---What an pleasant surprise. Sorry for the adventure when you dropped it off :-)LOL). All of my neck and shoulder muscles feel very constricted. I may work on that for Thursday. I'll see how tomorrow goes. I will post his counts after our blood draw...as long as we are not racing to Denver again. I actually packed bags last night just in case. I figure it is a lot like when you are pregnant....if you pack a bag, you won't go into labor. Let's hope the same phenomenon applies here :-) Thank you for the prayers for sleep.DAY

+111: PART 2 We came into CHOA(Dr. Cook's office in the Springs) for a CBC....platelets were an amazing 4,000 (can you sense my sarcasm????) So, we arranged to have the platelet transfusion done here. At 4pm, he finally got his leukocyte reduced, irradiated, and washed platelets. They will run over an hour and then we will re-check the level. In Denver, they are thinking it COULD be antibody/ATG but hate to speculate until they see his marrow tomorrow....here comes a lot more prednisone(YUCK!!!!) But, if this IS the cause, it is so much better than the alternative, I will be thankful. I am exhausted again....it takes energy to be this stressed(LOL). If all goes well and his platelets go up to around 20,000 or higher, we will be at home tonight and leave for Denver around 7am....rush hour time...again, what fun. Hunter is grumpy today(I don't blame him) and is also eager to find out what is wrong with him. It is hard to express anxiety and worry when you are 9. Please pray for smooth and easy sedation tomorrow for his biopsy at 11:30am. We need a great sample that really represents his marrow so we can move forward with treatment for whatever is causing this mess. Thank you.

Hi all -- Latest update ... Hunter's platelets have crashed. The doctors are trying to determine what the cause is & he is probably receiving platelets as I write this. Please keep Hunter & the doctors in your prayers while they try to find the best course of treatment for him. We will keep you updated as we know more. I have provided the update from his CarePages website for those of you that aren't signed up. It is written by my dear sister-in-law & friend, Heather.

DAY +110: HE BROKE ANOTHER RECORD -- NOT A GOOD ONE THIS TIME :-( I am posting from Denver....which is not good. Hunter had a good weekend (read riding bikes, playing hard) and woke up this morning with petichiae ALL OVER his legs (so much for not worrying). I called in and they told us that we needed to see Dr. Cook for a CBC. Well, we had to look twice....platelets were only 3,000. They have NEVER been that low in 7 1/2 years. I called to Denver and they said they were ordering platelets and to get on the road. At Castle Rock (1/2 way) his nose started bleeding...and hasn't stopped yet. They are ordering another chimerism study on his blood( making sure he is still 100% donor). His platelets should be here shortly. We were not looking for this kind of adventure. I guess I expected things to keep improving once they started up. Needless to say, I am very worried. We have a while until we can figure out what is up. Please be praying. I will post again after talking to the docs.

Hi all! Well, we have been mailing out our letters like crazy & working with different media outlets to generate some additional coverage! So, if you've come to visit our blog because you received a letter, WELCOME! I thought I'd post a quick update. First, for a piece of exciting news, my brother Ben is now an official pharmacist...not just a plain old pharmacist, but a Doctor of Pharmacy. Dr. Ben we'll call him! Now on to the not so fun items...injuries. Ben has been having some reoccuring knee pain during the runs & had to take a little time off to heal & was just able to cross-train. Brad now has ITBS & is going to see a physical therapist as soon as he can. We're not sure how long he'll be unable to run -- hopefully, it'll be just a week or so, but we'll have to wait & see. Anyhow, if you could please keep them in your thoughts & prayers it would be greatly appreciated. As for me, when you run as slow as I do, the chance for injury decreases! HA! I have no official data on that...heck, I'm out there quite a bit longer than they are, so I'm not sure what's harder on the body. The biggest dilemma I've had this week is deciding what shorts length to go with for the marathon shorts! :) Until next time...Brooke

Brooke ~ 15 miles

Brooke ~ 15 miles
Originally uploaded by brookiej1.

Eeek. Now that is a scary picture! Haha. I guess that I can't expect to look too glamorous after 15 miles. Brad got his update in on time for the 15 miler, but I am late...we ran 16 miles today & it wasn't fun. Actually, Brad had a great day until the end & his knee started hurting -- my day was probably one of my more painful runs. We started using eGel today & with that, my water intake was up. SO, that meant I finally had to take the dreaded bathroom break. It takes me so long to run this far that I hate the thought of stopping to go to the bathroom. I made it 15 miles last week & managed without a break. This was the week I had to break down. It's not that I'm so girly that I can't imagine peeing by the road; the real problem is that part of our run is through highly populated neighborhoods. Oh well, I had no choice. Anyhow, we have to run 10 miles more & that's it! HAHAHA. That's it! I am so funny. I can't imagine what it's going to feel like to run that far. Thankfully, we have 8 weeks until the marathon! Brad ran extra today. There is a scary part of our run that is very isolated (think creepy forest) & I don't like to run there by myself. He turned around & ran almost an extra mile to make sure I was okay. He's so sweet! I don't think I could have physically turned around to check on ANYTHING. Okay...until next time, Brooke